Carol Pinder left her car at home and donned her walking boots to do her daily rounds on foot - a 12-mile trek.

She saw new mums throughout Huddersfield while the snow fell and motorists were trapped.

Carol Pinder said: “I live in Golcar in an area where there is a steep gradient and I couldn’t get my car out.

“So it really was a case of doing what I could on foot.”

Carol’s journey took her from Thornton Lodge to Crosland Moor, Lockwood, Woodhead Road and up into Newsome – all on foot.

She has been a midwife since 1983 and has been community based for the last nine years.

But she has never faced such difficulty in getting out and about.

She added: “I got a lift wherever I could but I had to walk most places.

“The snow stopped a lot of activities last Monday and Tuesday apart from our emergency work.

“But we had to carry on doing what we could.

“The home visits were a priority and the new mums need as much support in the early days as they can.

“Some of them were so surprised and didn’t expect me there.

“You just have to get walking and I just felt that we need to still continue and carry out our duties as best we can.”

Her actions have been praised by her bosses.

Helen Shallow, head of midwifery, said: “We know our midwives both in the community and at the hospitals pulled out all the stops to keep the services running smoothly for our mums and families. They were tremendous.”

Director of nursing Helen Thomson, added: “Despite the snow and ice it was very much business as usual across the Trust and this is entirely due to the fact that our staff went to great lengths to keep disruption to a minimum for our patients and visitors.

“The response from our staff in making sure they got into work has been fantastic and I would like to thank everyone for their efforts.”